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  "path": "/news/colomba-the-story-of-italys-easter-cake.html",
  "publishedAt": "2026-03-24T10:57:41.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.wantedinrome.com",
  "tags": [
    "News",
    "Food"
  ],
  "textContent": "Colomba pasquale is a popular Easter tradition in Italy.\nThe traditional 'dove-shaped' Colomba di Pasqua or Colomba pasquale has been a firm fixture on the Easter calendar in Italy for almost a century.\n\nIts origins date back to the 1930s to Motta, a company in Milan already famous for its Panettone and Pandoro, two classic sweet breads associated with the Christmas season in Italy.\n\nThe Colomba was dreamed up as a way of using the same baking equipment and many of the same ingredients to cash in on the Easter market. The plan worked.\n\nMilanese baker and businessman Angelo Motta commercialised the Colomba which was marketed successfully by his advertising director Dino Villani.\n\nIn the 1940s the recipe was taken up by Angelo Vergani who founded Milan's Vergani company which still produces colombe today.\n\nSo what exactly is the Colomba made from and what is the difference between it and Panettone?\nThe dough for the Colomba is produced in a similar way to Panettone, with flour, eggs, sugar, natural yeast and butter.\n\nAfter being fashioned into a 'colomba' or dove shape, the dough is topped with icing and almonds before being baked.\n\nWhereas the Panettone contains raisins and mixed candied fruit, Colomba contains only candied orange peel and no raisins, with a sugary almond topping.\n\nThere are also differences in form, with the Panettone being dome-shaped and the Colomba in the shape (more or less) of a dove.\n\nThese days the Colomba comes in a variety of versions with flavours including chocolate, cherry, pear and pistacchio. \n\nWhere are the best places in Rome to buy a Colomba?\nThe best bakeries and pastry shops in Rome to buy the typical Easter cake include favourites such as Roscioli, Panificio Bonci, Casa Manfredi, Panificio Nazzareno, Pasticceria Grué and Le Levain.\n\nIn 2026, Easter Sunday falls on 5 April.",
  "title": "Colomba: the story of Italy's Easter cake"
}